Saint Roman is a Serbian monastic saint commemorated on August 16. He is most commonly identified with Roman of Đunis, also called Roman the Sinaite, a monk venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Church and associated with the monastery that bears his name near the village of Đunis in southern Serbia. No detailed contemporary life survives, and the surviving accounts of him belong largely to later tradition.
The traditions about Saint Roman do not agree on his era. One strand places him in the 9th century, counting him among the disciples of Saints Clement of Ohrid and Naum who evangelised the South Slavs in their own language; another, drawn from medieval folklore, places him in the 14th century as one of the Sinaite monks who came to Serbia from Sinai and Mount Athos during the reign of Prince Lazar. Because the database record commemorates him under the epithet 'of Banat' while the August 16 Serbian commemoration of a saint named Roman is that of the Sinaite of Đunis, his exact biography remains uncertain.
Contributions & Legacy
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Identity and Sources
Liturgical calendars for August 16 distinguish two Serbian saints kept on that day: a saint named Roman (Romanus) the Sinaite of Đunis, and, separately, Saint Raphael of Banat. The saint named Roman commemorated on this date is the Sinaite of Đunis rather than a figure proper to the Banat region, so the epithet attached to this record appears to reflect a conflation of the two August 16 Serbian commemorations.
The principal accounts of Roman of Đunis are late and partly legendary. By tradition he is reckoned a missionary and enlightener among the Slavs, and he is named in lists of Serbian saints and of the Sinaites who settled in Serbia. The feast is observed on 16 August by the Julian calendar, corresponding to 29 August on the Gregorian calendar.
Monastery and Veneration
Saint Roman is linked to the Monastery of St. Roman, situated near Đunis in the municipality of Kruševac (also associated with the municipality of Ražanj) in southern Serbia. The monastery is reckoned among the oldest in Serbian territory; it is first mentioned in the endowment diploma (Chrysovul) of the Byzantine Emperor Basil II in 1011, and one tradition holds that the saint founded a monastic settlement in the area in 888.
He is venerated as a miracle worker and healer, and by tradition is regarded as a patron of those suffering from physical and mental illness and of the orphaned and destitute. The site is treated as a monument of cultural heritage in Serbia.
Relics & Shrines
The Monastery of St. Roman at Đunis houses the saint's relics. His tomb is venerated there to the present day, and the monastery is the centre of his local veneration.
